Blissfully Insane
by vincehighwind
Summary: This is my first straight couple so bear with me. Rated M just to be safe. Alice now finds herself in Londerland and can't find anyone except a certain red headed carpenter who's wounded at the Mangled Mermaid. As they learn more about each other their feelings develop, but what's happening to Alice in the real world?
1. Carpenter in the Mangled Mermaid

Wonderland was no longer the same and neither was reality. They were fused together now and Alice had nothing to call it other than "Londerland". "Where is everyone?" The young female questioned out loud as she made her way through the streets.

Stopping, she held her chin between her forefinger and thumb thoughtfully. "Maybe Nanny is still around; I'll go check at the _Mangled Mermaid_."

Upon arriving at the brothel, the dark brunette noticed it was quite changed like everything else; the architecture was overgrown with all sorts of plant life. As she entered the building and made her way up the stairs to the rooms where the whores took their clients, she heard a pained groan coming from Nanny's room.

It was too masculine to be who she was looking for. Cautiously, Alice opened the door, keeping in mind she was no longer armed with the Vorpal blade. The door creaked and the dark brunette looked through the crack.

Gasping, the woman opened it wide upon seeing who it was inside.

"Carpenter!"

The red headed man feebly looked up at her, a pained smile forming on his lips. "A-Alice, marvelous to see you again." He grunted before coughing out blood. The female quickly went over to him, hardly noticing that the man was no longer a giant compared to her.

"You're hurt, what happened?"

"Well I remember a train rudely came barging into our performance, I believe you were there." Carpenter replied somewhat sarcastically; Alice frowned. "Well excuse me for being concerned." She said, poking the man's large nose.

Chuckling, the red headed male tried to swat the finger away but then cringed with a yelp of pain from the movement. Alice gasped in surprise. "Careful, you idiot!" There was a pause of silence before finally the woman said, "Where's the Walrus?"

"I don't think he made it back?" Carpenter said sadly.

"Back?"

"I was hit by a train that destroyed everything around it, I disappeared for a while, or maybe you didn't notice!" The man was obviously upset, though why he cared about something like that was beyond Alice.

It got quiet.

"You did horrible things…" The young female said softly.

"I'm well aware of that. But don't forget who pushed you out of the way and who pointed you in the right direction." The dark brunette looked down, somewhat ashamed, but she wasn't going to tell him that.

Scoffing, Carpenter turned to his gaze downward and noticed something poking out of one of the female's blood stained pockets. "What's that?" He asked, pointing at the object in question.

Alice looked at him quizzically, before she followed where the digit was pointing at. "Oh, that…" She replied softly. Taking the thing out of her pocket she showed it to the man.

"A key?"

"My Lizzie's key…"

The woman's face was so full of emotion that he couldn't help but stare. He had never seen her like this before.

"Who's Lizzie?" He asked gently.

"My older sister."

Carpenter never really knew about Alice's family, sure others did but he never really knew the green eyed woman even when she was a child during her very first visit to Wonderland. He was about to say something but stopped himself when he noticed Alice putting the key back into her pocket.

"Anyway, we need to do something about these wounds of yours." The woman said, whatever emotion that had been on her face now gone as she stood up.

"I doubt you'll find anything to dress wounds around here." Carpenter remarked, gingerly shifting his position on the floor. Alice opened the wardrobe and right there, on the top shelf, were bandages.

Turning back towards the man, the green eyed girl smirked in triumph. "Well, that was merely good luck on your part." The red head huffed, looking at the wall as the female chuckled. Alice returned and looked the man over and then suddenly stopped.

"What? What's the matter?" The man asked, starting to feel nervous.

Slowly, the woman raised her head up to look him in the eye, with a complete poker face. "I can't tell what's a wound and what's just the nails you hammered into yourself." Carpenter blushed, feeling quite embarrassed.

"Um, well anywhere that doesn't have a nail is something, I guess." He answered weakly.

* * *

Finally having finished bandaging the red headed man Alice said, "Well, I'll be on my way then."

"Wait!" Carpenter cried out, grabbing her wrist with one large hand. The woman looked at the man still on the ground. "What is it now?"

"Um, well…" He answered, losing a bit of his nerve. "Um," The man tried again more confidently, Alice staring at him annoyed, "why are you leaving?"

"To see if there's anyone else out there in Londerland." She replied, gesturing towards the open door.

_**Londerland?**_Carpenter thought to himself, finding the name strange. "But I'm still in need of your assistance; why not get the mangy cat to do it for you?"

"You mean Cheshire? He wouldn't do that for me, you have our relationship all wrong. It's not like he's a servant that answers my beck and call."

"Shame, what with the way can disappear and reappear." The red head muttered to himself.

"Hey, Cheshire may be exasperating at times but he's my friend, I'm not going to use him to do something I can do myself." Alice shouted, about to make her leave once more in a fury.

"And what am I to you, Alice?" The woman turned around to find sad but serious eyes looking straight into her own. The green eyed female looked back at him, her face devoid of emotion except her eyes; she looked torn between different feelings.

"I don't know." Alice said finally.

"Then stay with me and find out. You are curious, aren't you?"

The two may not know the other very well but one thing was for sure; Alice is naturally curious.


	2. Bad News

"You know, Walrus was the closest thing I had to a friend."

Alice turned her head to look at Carpenter but he wasn't looking at her. He was staring off into space, a sad smile on his lips. He was now resting against a pillow from the bed they were next to, which the woman had tried to lift the man onto, but he was just too heavy and too weak to help her.

"Sure the he was stupid and he had a bottomless pit for a stomach but he was always there." The green eyed female gently placed a hand on the red head's shoulder. "Lizzie was that way with me as well, I loved her very much but she wasn't around much."

"Your sister? Why, weren't you close?" Carpenter asked. Shaking her head Alice replied, "She was much older than I was, she did try to connect with me at times though." That same look was on her face now. The red head believed it to be love and admiration, something he had never seen directed to him before. He almost wished she would look at him like that.

_**What am I thinking?! **_Carpenter shouted in his mind, suppressing the urge to slap himself. "Anyway, you said you disappeared. How did you reach this conclusion?" The girl dressed in blue asked, not even noticing the red head's inner turmoil.

Noticing Alice was asking him a question, Carpenter replied, "Well, I don't know for sure really. It's just when I was hit by the train I felt an extreme pain and then I woke up here and all bloodied up." A thoughtful expression passed over the dark brunette's features.

"Anyway, my wounds should heal up somewhat fast. We folk in Wonderland have always been this way." The red headed man said, changing the subject with a smile. "Then how is it you need my assistance?" Alice questioned with a raised eyebrow.

"Oh, well…I just said that because I wanted to get to know you is all."

"Since when did you have an interest in me?"

_**Since I saw that look on your face. **_The man thought to himself. "I've never been alone to tell you the truth." He said, changing the subject.

"Never been without that gluttonous beast?"

"Never."

Alice was a bit taken aback by this statement; a silence formed between the two.

"I'm always alone." The green eyed woman said softly.

"I know." Carpenter replied simply. The woman looked back to see that a small smile was on the man's face. "You don't have to be, not anymore."

* * *

The next day the man had completely healed. Alice was quite surprised by this, having not totally believed the red head when he said he would be better quickly. "I shouldn't find you healing so fast surprising; I blew the Mad Hatter's head clean off his body before and found him alive the next time I saw him."

Carpenter, who had been stretching out, snorted at the woman's comment. "You actually did that?" He asked, a large grin on his face. Alice smirked and that was enough of an answer. The man barked out a laugh.

"Oh, you are a marvel my girl. A marvel!" Feeling a little embarrassed by the praise, the dark brunette changed the subject. "Do you think you'll be able to travel?"

"Travel?" Carpenter repeated, straightening up and looking at the female with a quizzical look. "Yes, we need to find out if anyone else has come back." She answered, making her way towards the door.

"Alice, I have something to ask you." The red head said, his voice deadly serious now.

"What?" The one in blue asked as she turned back towards the other.

"What exactly happened while I was gone?"

The Carpenter actually saw the girl flinch, her grip tight on the door frame. "Nothing you need to know right now, Carpenter." She replied in a voice that sounded dangerous. "You must have found out something about the train, who might have created it-"The red head started but was interrupted suddenly.

"I SAID YOU DON'T NEED TO KNOW THAT!" Alice screamed out, losing her composure.

The red head wanted to press further but knew when to drop it. The woman breathed heavily from her outburst. "Come on, let's go." She said finally, refusing to look at the man.

The Carpenter wanted to say something further but knew it was just better if he dropped it for now. He followed the woman as she made her way downstairs and out of the building. As they began to go down a street a figure suddenly began to form in front of them.

"Cheshire." Alice said simply.

"Have my entrances lost their mystery already?" A voice spoke as the figure became visible.

The cat looked them over before a trademark grin appeared. "I see you've found a new traveling companion. Alice, I'm hurt."

"You were hardly around on my journeys before; I don't see why you should be so insulted." The green eyed female answered back smoothly. The red head could see this was a normal thing between the two.

"I seem to remember you not wanting me around." The feline then looked at Carpenter directly. "I wasn't aware you were in speaking terms with this man, I came to the conclusion that you hated him."

Carpenter flinched, he couldn't help thinking this as well after the argument he had with the girl earlier as well as everything else he'd done.

"I don't hate him; I don't know what to think of him right now to be honest." Alice answered Cheshire's earlier statement. The red head looked at the woman, feeling his heart flutter in his chest. An emotion came along with it, something like…hope.

_**What's wrong with me? **_He thought to himself. "Well whatever you feel about him, I have come to tell you something." Cheshire said, his knowing eyes still on the man. Carpenter gulped nervously; did the cat know something he didn't?

"What is it now?" The green eyed girl asked, sounding impatient.

"Simply this. Look out for a certain green winged creature with a burning furnace on his chest." Alice's body stiffened, her face turned white.

"Alice, Alice, what's wrong?!" The red headed man cried out, placing his large hands onto her small shoulders. "Oh, she didn't like that news at all." The cat remarked casually, not as affected to her reaction as the man was.

"And what news was that anyway?!" The man shouted.

"Don't you know?" Cheshire asked mockingly. "The Jabberwocky's back."

"The what?" Carpenter asked, completely clueless.

"Ah, that's right, you don't know about him do you?" Cheshire smiling wider, if that was even possible. Now the red head could see why the woman found the cat so annoying.

"OK then, enlighten me."

"The Jabberwocky is a creature that seems to have the sole purpose of making Alice feel guilty about everything." The man's eyes widened. One thing he knew about Alice was she felt she was guilty far too much already, though to what he didn't know.

"What exactly does she feel guilty about?" Carpenter asked cautiously.

"Her family mostly but with what she's discovered recently…oh, she would utterly break." The feline sounded almost too pleased at the idea for the red head's taste.

"I don't even know why she considers you a friend." The man said, something like loathing creeping into his voice. "Oh, did she say something to that effect? If she thinks we're good pals then I wonder what she thinks of someone like you."

"I don't like you."

"Never said you had to." And with that, Cheshire disappeared.


End file.
